Alcohol

Avoid alcohol

Drinking alcohol is linked to higher blood pressure and atrial fibrillation. It also makes it harder to stay at a healthy weight and to keep blood sugar under control. Each of these factors can raise your stroke risk.

High blood pressure

Regular heavy drinking is a common contributor to raised blood pressure.

Atrial fibrillation (AF)

AF is a rhythm problem: the heart can beat fast and irregularly. Alcohol increases the chance of developing AF. If you already have AF, drinking can trigger episodes more often.

Unhealthy weight

Alcohol adds calories and can make it harder to reach and stay at a weight that supports good health.

Uncontrolled diabetes

Alcohol can disturb blood sugar control, which matters especially if you have diabetes.

Advice for healthy people

Australian national guidelines state that, to lower the risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, healthy adults who drink should have no more than ten standard drinks per week and no more than four standard drinks on any one day.

Drinking less than that reduces your risk further.

Those limits are for people in generally good health. Ask your doctor what level of drinking—if any—is safe for you personally.

Standard drinks

Guidelines are usually written in “standard drinks.” Many people are unsure what that means in practice—it depends on the drink and its strength.

  • Spirits: about 30 ml of spirits at 40% alcohol by volume counts as one standard drink.
  • Beer: a 285 ml glass of full-strength beer is roughly 1.1 standard drinks; the same size of lower-strength beer is about 0.6. Two hundred eighty-five millilitres is a small glass.
  • Wine: about 100 ml of wine or champagne is close to one standard drink. Many restaurant or pub pours are larger (e.g. around 150 ml).

Bottles and cans usually show how many standard drinks they contain—check the label.

As a rough guide, one standard drink might be a 375 ml bottle of mid-strength beer (about 3.5% alcohol), a 100 ml glass of red wine (about 13%), or a 30 ml nip of spirits (40%).

At home or out, estimate how many standard drinks are in each glass so you can tell whether you are within the guidelines you are following.

Advice for people who have had a stroke

After a stroke, alcohol can raise the risk of another event. It can also worsen problems with speech, thinking, vision, or balance. It may interact with medicines—including warfarin—and cause harm.

For more detail, see our fact sheet on alcohol after stroke (download below when available).

Change your drinking

While you drink, keep a running count of standard drinks—in a notebook or on your phone if that helps.

In social settings you might:

  • Sip slowly and make every second drink non-alcoholic—sparkling water is a good option instead of sugary soft drinks.
  • Choose lower-alcohol or non-alcoholic beer, wine, or spirits where available.
  • It is fine to say you are not drinking or that you have already had enough; you do not owe a long explanation.

More strategies and tips on cutting down are available from Hello Sunday Morning.